Isamu Tanonaka (July 19, 1932 – January 13, 2010) was an actor, voice actor, and narrator from the Taito ward of Tokyo. Although his natural speaking register was low, audiences knew him for high, piping character voices, above all Medama Oyaji, the walking eyeball father from Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitaro. He first took the part in the 1968 anime and continued to play it in essentially every version produced before his death, including live-action films, commercials, and the 2008 retelling Hakaba Kitaro; the only substitutions were Kazuo Kumakura in the early-2000s PlayStation 2 games and Hiroshi Otake for one episode of the 1971 series. His other credits span Tensai Bakabon, Mazinger Z, Paul's Miraculous Adventure, Magical Princess Minky Momo, Akuma-kun, Dr. Slump & Arale-chan, Dragon Quest: Dai no Daiboken, and Igor in the Persona games. Over his career he belonged to Gekidan Togei, Theatre Echo, and finally Aoni Production.
